Have you ever wondered how often to take your cat to the vet? There are differing opinions on how often to take your cat to the vet.
However, overall it is recommended to take your cat to the vet twice a year for a physical exam and evaluation of special health needs.
Yes, two times a year might sound like a lot, but cats are smaller animals and their little bodies change more rapidly than ours as they age. Since they are hunters, they hide their signs of disease until they have passed through much of the onset of a problem. There are many obese cats that could avoid developing diabetes (and obviously avoid increasing the costs to your pocket book), there are many cats that have chronic vomiting (and no, that’s not normal to vomit all the time, even with fur balls), and there are so many cats with dental disease.
It is important not to wait until your cat’s tooth is rotten before having a dental done. You certainly wouldn’t wait until gingivitis had developed into periodontal disease to do something about it.
Why not take the steps to avoid this from happening? It will happen to virtually every cat. As a cat moves into their senior years, like Rags , they all develop renal failure and 30% develop hyperthyroidism.
Pretty much whatever a human can get, your cat can get.
As you may know, problems are always easier to handle when they are identified early on and can be addressed with medications or be monitored through blood work.
Below is a list of recommended procedures and lab work for healthy cats in different life stages—I highly recommend these recommendations so that you cat will live well longer.
• Physical exam every 6 months
o Evaluation of conditions, diet and any concerns of the pet owner
• Blood work every 1-2 years as needed/recommended
• FeLV/FIV testing as indicated
• Dental Cleaning yearly or as needed
• De-Worming at least twice a year
• Physical exam every 6 months (or more)
o Evaluation of conditions, diet and any concerns of the pet owner
• Blood work at least annually as seniors, twice a year as geriatrics
• Urinalysis, preferably by cystocentesis, as needed
• Blood pressure annually or as needed
• Dental Cleaning yearly or as needed
• De-Worming regularly as indicated
• FeLV/FIV testing as indicated
Do you have an older cat who has a lot of issues? Or a younger cat with a lot of issues as well? Consider keeping a list of items to discuss with your vet–an important part in how often to take your cat to the vet. You could keep this list on your refrigerator, on your BlackBerry or your Treo or your iPhone. That way, you will be sure to discuss all the problems once you get to the vet!
Return to Floppycats.com’s Health Care Page.
